S: Nice wood, white grapes, some floral and grassy notes with a honey and biscuity characteristic

T: I love a good pils and I love a nice white wine barrel so this was on target for me. Immediate chardonnay; white grapes, a little booze sting, some honey and biscuit meshed with a nice hop bite with grass and flowers

M:It was light bodied, crisp and refreshing with copious amounts of chardonnay and wood, very dry with a nice hop bite, light booze and wine like feel on top of the lighter airy pils was very nice

O: I thought this beer was a slam dunk with me. The only comment I had was the mouthfeel was great but I felt it outshined the pils itself. However, the taste was fantastic and if this were close by it would be consumed by the gallons.

Enjoyed at cellar temp, any cooler and this beer loses some of its charm IMO. Big white grape skin and citrus, star fruit, honey, some grain, mineral tinged chardonnay and yeast backed by Hallertau hops with dusty oak in the nose. When its freshly opened there is a greater amount of oak tannin pushing through the hop profile, this subsides as the beer warms and the alcohol comes into play along with a high level of acidity, its brisk and cleansing as opposed to sharp and astringent. Another truly world class brew from Stephen and the gang.

A - Pours a hazy orange-gold with a soapy white head that settles to a thin haze, leaving lots of spotty lacing.
S - Subtle aromas of honey, oak, white wine, ripe pears, and some toasted biscuit malts. Perhaps a touch of butter floating around as well. Very interesting nose, definitely unique in the Pilsner world.
T - Big buttery flavors of ripe pear and honey dominate, with some significant Chardonnay character and a touch of woodiness. Very clean and drinkable, with no hint of bitterness.
M - So smooth and creamy, with a medium body and lower carbonation. Not at all crisp like most Pilsners, but that's okay. This is a refined, sipper-style Pilsner that I'm enjoying the heck out of.
O - This was a really nice surprise, and one of the most unique beers I've had in a bit. Great job!

I waited a longtime to buy this beer because of the price,I was missing out.Poured into a pilsner a burnt orange infused golden with a thinner but well retained white head.Toasty wood,caramel,and pizza dough aromas,faint grape skin,to me alot like a helles bock.Rich and full flavored with honey and sweet dough notes,I pick up some vanilla and even some apple in there,the alcohol is noticable but not in your face.It's sweet but not over the top and it's got nice complexity.Another great job by OHB.

Pour is a sexy dark straw color. Thin white head. Not as carbonated as I was expecting. Looks damn amazing in my pilsner glass.

Definitely a malt forward beer. Floral hops and white wine. It smells like vanilla, somewhat sweet and very dry.

This might be the most clean finishing beer I have ever had. The malt is definitely at the front (I mean it is an Imperial Pilsner after all), but that normally means syrupy sweetness. Not here. That malt comes forward, caramel and toffee come to mind, but then a pervading dryness keeps everything in check. The subtle balance makes this thing amazing. You can feel the floral hops upon exhale in the nose.

The body is exceptionally light for the style, and thats not a bad thing. Theres a candy sweet flavor that reminds me of rock candy that battles with the dryness. I get subtle hints of the chardonnay barrels, but nothing excessive. That sweetness ends up winning, coating your mouth with its syrupy sweetness, but thats only an afterthought. It makes you thirsty, begging for more nectar.

Copper colored around the edges with a golden middle when held up to the light. Nice thick cream colored head with excellent retention. Thick foamy lace sticks to the sides of the glass. Smells like fresh baked bread, grapes and a bit of booze, just a hint. Wonderful aroma that really jumps out at you when you crack the lid. Taste fresh buttermilk biscuits, grapes, with a nice little boozy burn at the end. Thicker mouthfeel for the style. Great beer, OHB you hit a homerun on this one. Please brew it again!

This beer was interesting to me. At first I wasn't sure what it would be like as I had never had this style before. I have had many Pilsner's before, but never one classified as an "Imperial Pilsner". It was very fruity but also had a strong hop component. Not a bad surprise but an interesting one.

A: Color was a erubescent golden very appealing, but not what I would expect from the traditional Pilsner style. Nevertheless a very nice color for a beer. Perhaps the color comes from aging process. I am not by any means knocking this beer. It was gorgeous.

S: It has a bittersweetness too it but also has a very nice floral component. As it opens up to the air the floral notes from the hops come alive and waft pleasantly out of the pint glass.

T: This is where this beer shows its unusual character. I was not expecting a lot from this beer really, even though everything I have tried from Olde Hickory have been wonderful. I purchased this beer from a local shop on a whim and I am certainly happy I did. It had a nice mouthfeel but not overly thick or watery, nicely balanced. It almost reminded me of a nice draft IPA, but also had a woodiness to it that obviously comes from the aging in Chardonnay barrel aging. Without a doubt one of the best and most unusual beers I have ever tasted and increases my belief that this is one of the best breweries out there right now.

Taste: Lemon pound cake followed quickly by grassy hops; by mid-palate, the vinous elements arrive along with a wallop of oak; in the finish, the flavors blend nicely, combining the sweet, grassy/bitter and vinous flavors

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate carbonation

Overall: A very creative take on the Imperial Pilsner style; I had held off on this for a while as I was concerned it might be too sweet but it was really quite good

Served from bottle into a Houblon Chouffe pilsner. Poured yellow-orange with a one finger white head that subsided to a minimal amount slowly. Maintained phenomenal lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, wheat, grape, white grape skin, and very subtle wood. The flavor was of sweet malt, fruit, dark fruit, grape, wood, wheat, and subtle sweet alcohol. It had a light feel on the palate with medium-high carbonation. Overall this was a pretty good brew. I really like the character that the barrel added to this usually very dull style. This one had a very nice white grape flavor profile and aroma going on which made it quite enjoyable. Definitely worth getting this on your palate if you have not done so already. I was quite impressed here as I went into it not expecting much.

A 750ml bottle, 2012. Sent by my buddy, Metalmonk, in early spring. Split with my wife to two tall pilsner glasses on a warm (70-ish) mid-June Friday; ciabatta, prosciutto and a block of parmesan on the side.

From the back label: A Greek epithet for Dionysus, Eiraphiotes means "Twice-Born". This Imperial Pilsner was a stellar beer right out of the conditioning tank, but its second birth from chardonnay barrels has transformed it into a truly magnificent creation."

A: Deeper honey-blonde, a shade brighter than amber at its core. Mild haze. Decent carbonation rising to a 1-finger pillow of whitish foam. Good retention and gorgeous dappled lace.

S: Love the aroma ~ the chardonnay 'grape' scent is a bit botanical and the fruitiness is apple- and pear-like. Mild woody spice.

M: Not quite 'chewy', but certainly thicker than a standard pilsner. Pretty creamy, smooth, luscious. Carbonation melts away. Some of the barrel-aging notes linger a while.

O: Very likable and easy to drink (albeit hard to pronounce!). The 'imperial' qualities make for a 'heavier' pilsner, but one that's still plenty refreshing and perfectly matched the afternoon, lounging in the backyard. Would really like this again - thanks, Jeff, for sending!

A: Pours a very lightly hazy golden copper in color with some golden yellow and orange highlights aas well as a moderate to heavy amount of visible carbonation. The beer has a finger tall sudsy white head that quickly reduces to a couple of small patch of medium sized bubbles along with a very thin fil covering the majority of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Light to moderate amounts of honey, biscuit malts, grassy hops, and just a touch of floral hops. The chardonnay barrel aging contributes a moderate amount of oak and white grapes in additional to the vinous notes.

T: Upfront there is a moderate flavor of biscuit malts with some light honey sweetness. After that the flavors contributed by the chardonnay come through - vinous, white grapes, and just a touch of light fruit. There is a touch of vanilla from the oak barrels along with the normal oak flavors. Finally, there is a light amount of grassy and floral hops which contribute just a touch of lingering bitterness.

M: Just slightly heavier than medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Slightly crisp with a light amount of creaminess and a very dry finish.

O: This beer really worked for me - the combination of the imperial pilsner flavors/aromas along with the contributions from the chardonnay barrel aging really add something to this one. The alcohol is pretty well hidden and this is easy to drink for me.

750 ml bottle into a couple of snifters. Thanks go to Barscream for sharing this one with me.

Pours a clear gold, with a ½ finger of frothy bright-white head. This maintains a nice big foaminess in the glass that drenches the sides of the glass with a rich cascade of spotty lacing. The chardonnay jumps right out in the nose, with notes of dry fruit and some light vanilla. Gentle floral and spicy character helps enhance this character. That Pils base provides a honeyed graininess to the proceedings along the back of the nose that not only adds flavor to this but also helps prop up that barrel character.

The taste is similar, with the Imperial Pilsner base giving off notes of sweet honey, bready grains, and a light herbal bitterness, while the barrel works in vanilla flavor, soft tart fruit, and dry oaky edges that pull in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a firmness up front that then gives way to a slicker creaminess that rides along nicely across the back of the palate. Any kind of warmth here appears to just come from the barrel.

This was nice. A 7% Imperial Pils was a great choice for aging here, as it didn’t have any of the heavy sweetness or alcohol you would find with higher ABV examples of the style and had a softness to it that carried the more delicate aspects of that chardonnay barrel well. I enjoyed this.

Imperial pilsner in Chardonnay barrels, what is not to like about that. The appearance is ok, a little cloudy, probably from the barrel aging, but for a pilsner it takes something away, even with an imperial pilsner, most are clear. The head is nice and white and lasts for a long time. I like the smell, first a hit of grapey chardonnay, then a nice floral/spicy hop aroma, with a hint of vanilla. The taste is right on for what this beer is; pilsner malty, lightly hopped, then the barrel aging takes over, I love the subtle grape overtones with the oaky/vanilla finish. The mouthfeel and body are a little too thick for an imperial pils, but you have to take that with the barrel aging. Seek it out and drink it.

A: Pours a slightly hazy orange-gold with two fingers of white head that fades into a sudsy cap with lots of sticky lacing.

S: Lots of sweet biscuit malt aromas on the nose followed by Muscat grape and pear aromas. There is also a slightly buttery smell in there that reminds me of fermenting or rotting fruit, which admittedly doesn't sound pleasant, but is enjoyable in small amounts.

T: Again, sweet biscuit flavors at first with white grape and pear flavors. Dry Chardonnay and woody tanin flavors also permeate throughout. The finish is dry with a decent bitterness and slight alcohol presence.

M: Medium body and carbonation, this beer is not as light or refreshing as a regular pilsner, but is dry and clean enough to avoid being heavy.

O: Definitely one of the better imperial pilsners out there and a good beer. There's a lot of depth of flavor and aroma and it manages to avoid being too thick and sweet like most imperial pilsners, likely thanks to the Chardonnay barrels.